The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1887-04-20
WITH A LEPER.
The Life and Romance Of an I'm
fortunate.

The Life and Romance Of an Un-
fortunate.
Passing down Bayou Lafourche to
ward the gulf, after the broad acres of
the well-kept sugar plantations have
been left behind, one enters region so
entirely different it could hardly be
called the same country, so unlike is it
to the more prosperous sugar region.
Between its narrow levees the bayou in
serpentine turns winds along its devi-
Gus way, and with every mile passed
human habitations grow more scarce.
The nearer the gulf the lower is the
land, and. here and there, the silent,
shadowy swamps approach the stream
quite nearly, leaving only narrow
strip for cultivation. The houses are
all small and unpretentious, and the
farms adjoining them in keeping with
the houses. Sugar there gives place to
rice, and the little fields are checkered
with the crossing lines of small canals
used in the irrigation of the
crops. In some places the
long stretches of sea marsh and
prairie have encroached far inland,
and spread on either side like some
broad lake, the elumps of oak and cy-
press in the distance rising above the
PUSHES like islands. Patches of pal
metto thrive beside the dusty road that
meanders along by the bayou, and here
and there bunch of rich green foliage
tells OF miniature orange grove. The
fences grow more dilapidated as one
progresses, until at last few palings
mark the front line of private property
and keep nomadic COWS off the few
struggling flowers and vegetables. 1t
is sort of out-of-the-way region, and
the people are simple and most I'M
sophisticated. They are all descend
ants of the old Acadians, and by inter-
marriage have become so closely con-
nected that the attenuated colony that
borders the bayou for many miles may
be said almost to belong to one family.
Here for years the Natalies and the
Pierres, the Susannes and Edgars, have
billed and cooed, wooed and married
without ever having heard the sound of
a locomotive or having their eyes daz-
zled by the brilliancy of starched
shirt.
The crops, the rise and fall of the
bayou, the advent of a new priest and
approaching marriages are about the
only topics of conversation, so that
there life moves along with the same
even flow of the sluggish waters of the
Lafourche. Sometimes a Saturday
night ball enlivens the social aspect, !
violin and accordion breathe out those |
softer sentiments than can. only find
expression in the application of shut
Hing feet to a sanded floor. The peo-
pie are most law-abiding and deeds of |
violence are rarely heard OF.
Miles beyond, where the railroad
crosses the bayou, and after long
stretch of rice farms have been passed,
the tired rider can not fail to notice
one little farm that seems to be off by
itself as if it did not choose to keep the
company of the others. Between it and
the nearest on either side there is a
space OF quarter of mile overgrown
with weeds, Cherokee rose and pal
metto. The house belonging to the place
is not unlike the others in build, al.
though it is somewhat smaller, and
the rice field shows just as much care
as any along there. A sturdy
hve oak graces the space that would be
called the front yard, if yards existed
there, and just back of the house a
small shed shows where the two little
Creole ponies grazing in the road are
kept OF nights. Moving to the refresh
ns impulses of the bracing breeze
nat comes directly from the gulf, the
bright green rice blades nod and blink
inaer the warm sun, and from beyond
ne held out Of the thicket comes the
heerful note OF the cardinal bird. Be-
Idle this somnolent silence rests, over
he place. Presently, in the small
ront gallery of the house, movement
ttracts the eye, which organ, after
ager inquiry, succeeds in making out
n old man seated in hickory chair,
azing with curiosity at the new
omer. An approach to the house is
lterrupted by deprecatory gesture
'om the silent figure, but if, disre-
arding, such a slight display of
pposition, one pushes along, it will be
ut a moment before the trespasser
thoroughly comprehends the reason of
MS lack of welcome and show of dis
leasure.
The figure rises slowly and comes
ut to meet you, and when it has
cached a spot fifteen or twenty feet
'om yog, then, and not until then, do
on reco re the fact that you are in
'e ptesea ola leper. Almost in j.